when did day to day transport become boring for you? (was: main line railways)

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

Planes, especially the 737-100/200, made a decent racket back in the 1970s, and then you had Pan Am, TWA and Braniff.  If you weren't from London and wanted to see something decent you needed to make a trip to Heathrow multistory car parks to see the exotic likes of Alitalia, Air France (only 1 late night service back at Ringway in those days), Middle Eastern, Saudi and KLM (there might have been one in the afternoon at Ringway).

Going slightly off topic - following your lead - plane spotting at Heathrow was never the same after they did away with goofer access to the roof of the Queen's Building and the shop there which sold plastic aircraft kits.    Just like the railway it all keeps on changing and I find watching A380s passing overhead as they turn onto LHR approach is interesting in its own way.

 

Railway wise Paul RhB has summed up things in an excellent way - loads of variety still to be seen on the railway if you look for it and know where to look for it.  And if you're interested in steam, or railways , at that fascinating little detail in his photo of 'Clan Line';  I wonder who else has noticed it?

[97406]

I still read WNXX regularly and the DRS open day in Crewe last summer was great, but nothing compares to the mid-to-late 80s for me, when there were still a few 25s, 40s and most classes of AC electric in service plus interesting things happening to the 37s. There’s a reason why it’s my main modelling period. The 1990s were OK, but there was an obvious decline in the old classes and privatisation didn’t rest well with me, apart from the EWS livery which looked quite smart. 

 

I often visit the North Wales coast to go cycling but the endless plastic units do not interest me one little bit, whereas it was one of my favourite places for interesting traction back in the day.

[Andy M]

02 January 1982........Things were never quite the same after that!

 

[brushman47544]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

Railway wise Paul RhB has summed up things in an excellent way - loads of variety still to be seen on the railway if you look for it and know where to look for it.  And if you're interested in steam, or railways , at that fascinating little detail in his photo of 'Clan Line';  I wonder who else has noticed it?

 

Is that a catch point hiding behind the trees on the left?

[The Lurker]

33 minutes ago, brushman47544 said:

 

Is that a catch point hiding behind the trees on the left?

y eye was caught by steam coming out of the rear of the tender!

[40152]

Again a little different to others on here. I can remember clearly the event when the lights went out for me. Looking back in my old moves book, I can even tell you the exact time and date. Having spent the summer of 1984 flailing around the country chasing the remaining class 40s and steam heated Peaks, I started my ‘A’ levels that September and took a few months away from BR to concentrate on supposedly more serious matters. I wandered back out on Jan 4th, 1985, and took the short trip up from Birmingham to Coventry on the 0805 Newcastle - Poole behind 31433. Standing on Coventry station, reflecting on yet another ‘goyle converted to electric heating and the list in my Platform 5 book of the next batch to be converted, it struck me hard that the things I enjoyed about the railway, chasing boilered and nb locos, seeing careworn engines perform their best, steam-heated stock etc. were coming to an end. Technically not true for a few more years and only a little dewy-eyed (ha ha I was only 16…) that was it for main line traction for me. It appears that I jumped 86238 back to New St and, apart from a bit of railway photography for a year, never returned.

 

So modelling BR blue in its lingering, run-down and misfiring way it remains.

[clachnaharry]

The demise of the last mixed commercial freight - the DB Didcot to Carlistle MoD which as well as vans, containers and the occasional open, also conveyed automotive, oil for Peak Forest stabling point and briefly gravel in the last of the HEAs. It faded out just before GBRF won the MoD contract. sometime around 2016 if memory serves me correctly.

[wombatofludham]

4 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Planes, especially the 737-100/200, made a decent racket back in the 1970s, and then you had Pan Am, TWA and Braniff.  If you weren't from London and wanted to see something decent you needed to make a trip to Heathrow multistory car parks to see the exotic likes of Alitalia, Air France (only 1 late night service back at Ringway in those days), Middle Eastern, Saudi and KLM (there might have been one in the afternoon at Ringway).

Going off route for a moment, and despite having flown in Dragon Rapides, DC3s, the Avro RJ85 and the last airworthy Viscount, my absolute aircraft joy was to be able to fly all three ex-BCal BAC1-11s Maersk flew out of Birmingham for BA back in the 90s, plus an ex BEA European Airways "rentajet" 1-11 which was rustled up one day when the scheduled Maersk jet went tech.  The BAC1-11 first flew in April 1963, four months after I entered service in the January, so to finally get my bum on a few before they were withdrawn was probably the last time I have experienced that child like joy and excitement you used to get as a youngster going on something new and exciting.  I still remember the hot breakfast with warm buns which smelt faintly of paraffin which made me wonder if they had just opened a hatch next to the engine nacelle to warm them up.

Eurowhite airbuses and 737s don't quite excite me as much, sadly,

[woodenhead]

My first ever flight was in a BA 1-11, out of Manchester, circuit over Barton for the airshow and back to Manchester.

 

It was a special offer, dead cheap for us children spotters at the airport.

[PaulRhB]

2 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

 

Is that a catch point hiding behind the trees on the left?

Nope, it’s plain track which is part of the shunt neck from the old up yard. 

[PaulRhB]

1 hour ago, The Lurker said:

y eye was caught by steam coming out of the rear of the tender!

Prob what Mike meant ;) It’s the train air brake they added. Loco is still vac and handbrake. 
 

Or he could mean the round the houses route headcode ;) 

Edited January 18, 2023 by PaulRhB

[MyRule1]

As I am the OP for this thread and it drifted OT a  couple of times I have amend the title and widened the topic.

 

All very interesting replies to date but one observation, I was referring to day to day operation of the railways as you would observe on a journey from a to b rather than one off events. Yes I can still see a Pacific steam engine locally on a passenger train 3 or 4 times a year but that make my  Norwichbtrip no less boring under normal circumstances.

 

So to other transport, the succession of twin engined jets over our house into Stansted and Luton is extremely boring. Luckily we're are on the Duxford flight path from northern Europe so we do get a variety during the Airshow season.

 

Cars I can remember the days before massed imports when their was variety of shape between makeers etc.

 

Buses the last picture of a bus I took in commercial service would have been over 10 years ago.

 

Feel free to add ships etc to the conversation.

 

 

[MyRule1]

Apology to @AY Modthat this is now in an incorrect thread. Please do move it if required.

[The Stationmaster]

33 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

Prob what Mike meant ;) It’s the train air brake they added. Loco is still vac and handbrake. 
 

Or he could mean the round the houses route headcode ;) 

Definitely the steam coming up off the air pump.  despite a widespread interest in railways, and having worked - in various ways on what had been the SR, I was never deeply into SR headcodes.

 

Oh and just to keep up the variety I too had a trip one of the 'white fin' 1-11, on charter to BA in the '90s. - from Glasgow (Paisley) to Bruxelles as I had to get from a meeting a Polmadie one day to a meeting in Brussel the following day.  First time I'd been on a 1-11 for c.20 years.

[AY Mod]

Moved over to Prototype Discussions rather than questions now.

[Tartaruga]

There is definitely less variety but I would say the same if I went on a car journey now. I have a colleague at work who goes trainspotting and I don't see the attraction compared to when I was his age over 30 years ago although I can see why people who saw steam think lesser of the time I spotted. (I still find it strange I was born eight years after steam and 4 years before the Class 43).

Last year I went up to York by train and saw how different things were from 20 years ago when I probably last travelled regularly by rail but there were still things to see. On one side it may be duller but it is far safer and more comfortable, if the train isn't overcrowded. 

I enjoy train travel in Italy because they still have locomotives and large goods yards but less comfortable.

Edited January 18, 2023 by Tartaruga

[russ p]

36 minutes ago, Tartaruga said:

There is definitely less variety but I would say the same if I went on a car journey now. I have a colleague at work who goes trainspotting and I don't see the attraction compared to when I was his age over 30 years ago although I can see why people who saw steam think lesser of the time I spotted. (I still find it strange I was born eight years after steam and 4 years before the Class 43).

Last year I went up to York by train and saw how different things were from 20 years ago when I probably last travelled regularly by rail but there were still things to see. On one side it may be duller but it is far safer and more comfortable, if the train isn't overcrowded. 

I enjoy train travel in Italy because they still have locomotives and large goods yards but less comfortable.

 

Might be safer but definitely not more comfortable,  virtually all modern trains have horrible seats

[Reorte]

11 minutes ago, russ p said:

 

Might be safer but definitely not more comfortable,  virtually all modern trains have horrible seats

Just from the passenger perspective I'd rather move back a bit there. Whilst safer is all very well within my lifetime it's always been sufficiently safe (from a passenger perspective, can't comment for working on the railway) that I've never been at all concerned so improving it doesn't move me much.

 

I very much agree with less comfortable though. Both for the seats and the overall environment; the last comfort improvement I found was when smoking was stopped throughout. As well as the seats themselves there seems to be less and less legroom (I'm 6'3" tall) and more and more louder announcements and other noises, and I find any sort of electronic display in a carriage an irritant in the corner of my eye. Yeah, I'm grumpy.

 

I've not mentioned ride quality because that seems to vary greatly, but is generally better AFAICT than back in the Mk1 days (although there are plenty of current trains I've never travelled on, so I shouldn't really generalise; the only long distance services I've travelled on in recent years have been on Pendolinos, which hardly count as new any more).

[The Lurker]

Seats? What are they? He says from a standing room only train from LBG in the new and ‘improved’ SE timetable 

[Reorte]

2 hours ago, The Lurker said:

Seats? What are they? He says from a standing room only train from LBG in the new and ‘improved’ SE timetable 

They're the things with not much space but which nevertheless I came fairly close to dozing off on this evening. Never missed my stop yet though!

[rogerzilla]

I don't think many people travelling on the GWML find the Class 800 seats better than the ones in an HST.  And don't start me on the shameful cycle provision.

Edited January 18, 2023 by rogerzilla

[Northmoor]

If most of us think about it, the point when we lost interest (if it ever did) tend to be linked to one or more of the following events:

1. When we discovered members of the opposite sex (or the same sex, whatever).  I discovered girls but they were much slower to discover me, so I never abandoned railways!
2. If stock was around when you first got into railways, it seems to a permanent feature, then suddenly it isn't.  
3. When we had managed to "spot" almost everything; once you've caught everything, hunting loses its appeal.
4. Sometimes its when people have started to work on the railways professionally; when your hobby becomes your job, the thrill is diluted.

I never lost interest in railways but family did get in the way of much travel for pleasure and any modelling for 10-15 years while my children grew up.  Perhaps I was lucky in moving around the country a bit throughout the 90s so there was always a new train fleet and new routes to discover.  There's still routes I've not travelled or haven't done for many years, so there's still plenty to interest me even if much of the modern stock does little for me.

[pH]

5 hours ago, Northmoor said:

When we had managed to "spot" almost everything; once you've caught everything, hunting loses its appeal.

Without meaning to be rude, but when were your ‘prime’ spotting years?

 

In 6 years spotting in the 1960s, for example, I got just over 70% of the Black 5s and thought I was doing pretty well!

Edited January 19, 2023 by pH

[Hibelroad]

To be honest I have never had any great interest in the current railway scene at any point in my life, I consider myself a modeller pure and simple. I have a keen interest in the L&NWR, having amassed many books about the railway and period, but current railways leave me cold unless I am searching out remnants of an earlier age - is this unusual?

 

[MyRule1]

In another thread someone asked if there was an universal law where there was a correlation between the length of a thread and it turning into a wishlist. In the case of prototype discussions you could replace wishlist with seats.